Deadline
by spyder-m
Summary: "It's not like he'd been actively seeking her out, or looking for any excuse to talk to her, no. He just happened to have been there on a few occasions and well… He'd noticed her. It was hard not to." College AU written for Sukka month.


A/N: This is a oneshot I wrote for Sukka month Tumblr that I felt like sharing here. The prompt was for an AU based on School/College.

I hope you enjoy it!

Rating: T, for an F-bomb.

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Deadline

**Monday, 3:57 PM**

His paper was due in about an hour from now. The one he'd been assigned two weeks ago. If he didn't finish it by five, the Faculty Office would close and he wouldn't be able to submit until tomorrow… That is he even managed to have it finished by then. With a good five word hundreds still to go, he'd only gotten as far as… Facebook.

Closing the tab for the umpteenth time Sokka sighed, once again confirming that no one had posted anything worthwhile in the brief few minutes he had been working. Yet; much to his chagrin; he knew that in just a moments time, he would repeat the process all over again. It was almost automatic.

Read a paragraph, check notifications.

This particular case of positive reinforcement wasn't exactly working in his favour.

Reopening the Word document; practically unaltered since he had left that very morning; Sokka sighed, his hand fisting through his hair. He was by no means a bad student, he just had a tendency to leave things to the last minute and play them by ear from there; what college student didn't?

He hadn't been able to concentrate at home. Not while Katara and Aang were there, distracting him with their sickeningly sweet displays of affection (oogie). He'd locked himself in his room, proclaiming that he was not to be disturbed under any circumstances, but quickly grew stifled among the closed confines and increasing litter of energy drink cans building up around him.

With his options receding and his word count still significantly under par, Sokka headed to the library on Campus, hoping that being among his fellow students working and moving between classes would inspire him… Or at least offer an illusion of productivity on his part.

Unfortunately, his progress didn't appear to fare any better here. Despite the anxiety clenching at his chest, and the precious minutes ticking ominously away, his attempts at devoting his every fiber of energy to completing the project were unsuccessful. No matter how hard he tried to ensconce himself with the (largely) unchanged document on the screen before him, his attention was drawn elsewhere.

_She_ was there again.

Lounging comfortably against a chair, her dark brain hair fanning out gently over her eyes as they trailed wistfully over the hard back held loosely in her grasp. She blew a stray tuft away, before stretching the knots out of her lithe form and returning her gaze back to the text before her.

It wasn't surprising, really. She was usually in the library on a Monday. Apparently that little tidbit of information had conveniently slipped from his mind on this occasion. I mean, it's not like he'd been actively seeking her out, or looking for any excuse to talk to her, no. He just happened to have been there on a few occasions and well… He'd noticed her. It was hard not to.

There was definitely something intriguing about her.

She would've been roughly his age, give or take a year. She was from Kyoshi, apparently, and was probably a Sociology student; if the books on Gender Roles and Feminism he'd seen her reading before were any indication.

Oh yeah, and she was gorgeous.

Normally, he would deem it odd that he was so infatuated with a woman who he knew next to nothing about. He didn't even know her name! Yet, in this instance, he couldn't help it. Over the past few weeks, he had observed her, picking up on a number of endearing habits.

The way her brow furrowed and her nose wrinkled in irritation as her hair tickled against it. The way, on a particular chilly, she would use a hot beverage to warm her hands. The soft musical laughter that he could hear spilling from her lips, every now and then.

He wished he could be the one to make her laugh like that.

Unfortunately, he'd never been able to work up the nerve to even approach her.

**Monday, 4:39 PM**

Twenty minutes until his deadline and Sokka was already cutting deals in his head. It didn't really matter if he didn't get this in exactly on time, right? After all, it was only a 5% penalty for each day it was late. That was nothing! Surely, if he put in enough focus and effort tonight, he'd be able to more than make up the marks his tardiness would cost him.

This was just a waste of his time, anyway. No matter how he phrased his arguments on paper, they just never seemed coherent and convincing enough to him. He'd read the same sentence on Fire Nation Public Policies for what felt like the tenth time, but it still didn't make sense to him. He wasn't going to get anywhere until he at least got a fresh dose of caffeine into his system. A coffee certainly sounded tempting, and a sandwich… Preferably one filled with meat. Yeah, sustenance was important.

Man, why did he have to skip out on lunch?

_No, come on Sokka! Focus!_ Came the internal scream, as he slapped himself on the forehead, a hand shaped pink welt having long since formed over the bridge of his face. He couldn't afford to let his mind wander anymore!

"Uh… Are you okay?"

Sokka's spine tingled at the slightly concerned feminine voice coming from behind him. His glance shot towards the chair directly across from her, where she'd been seated for the better part of the last hour.

It was empty.

Swallowing carefully, Sokka glanced over his shoulder somewhat reluctantly, confirming the conclusion he had already drawn.

"Y-yeah, I'm fine. Thanks." He answered eventually, his eyes focusing anywhere but directly on the deep, penetrating allure of her own.

"Making any progress?" She asked, offering a friendly smile.

"On what?" He stumbled, still having difficulty contemplating this sudden in breakthrough in their interaction. Just last week he couldn't recall a time he'd said two words to her, now they were actually… conversing.

"Your paper. You do Political Science, right? I heard you guys had one due later today."

"How did you…" Sokka began, baffled.

She dipped her head slightly in response, gesturing towards the thick book spread out upon the desktop. Right, of course. Apparently he wasn't the only one with a watchful eye. They knew more about each other than he had initially been led to believe.

"Anyway, I've gotta go… I guess I'll see you at the same time next week?"

"Yeah," he answered apprehensively, still somewhat taken aback.

"Great," she smiled gently. "I look forward to it. Good luck with your paper."

Uncharacteristically silent, Sokka could only lift his hand in a loose wave as he watched her departing form. As she left, he couldn't help but allow the impish grin to spread over his features.

He'd talked to her. Certainly he hadn't approached her, or initiated the exchange, like he would have preferred, but it didn't matter. They talked. Better still, she'd actually been aware of his existence before today. They'd even arranged to meet up. Sort of.

Maybe now he'd actually get the chance to ask her her name.

He couldn't help but entertain himself with the thought. The satisfaction alone being enough to distract from the pressure of his still incomplete paper.

**Monday, 4:57 PM**

Oh yeah.

…

That.

**Monday, 5:01 PM**

…

Fuck.

**Monday, 5:03 PM**

Well, there was always tomorrow, he supposed.

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A/N: All reviews and favourites are appreciated. Cheers.


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